It was a menacing sight - two powerful tornadoes swirling side by side through the countryside of northeastern Nebraska.

At one point, the twin twisters straddled a state highway.

"It was terribly wide," Marianne Pesotta told CNN affiliate KETV in the town of Pilger. "I drove east (to escape). I could see how bad it was. I had to get out of there."

The decision to flee may have saved her life.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said up to three-quarters of Pilger, a town of about 350 people, was destroyed Monday. The severe weather also caused damage in the towns of Wisner, Stanton and Pender.

All four communities are within about 40 miles of each other, about and hour and a half northwest of Omaha.

The aftermath was almost too much to take for some like Marilyn Andersen, another Pilger resident

"I've never been through this before," she told affiliate KMTVthrough tears. "It was an experience, and I don't want to go through it again."

Two deaths were reported. Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said a five-year-old was killed in Pilger, but didn't say how. Another person died outside of town, he said.